Ascent Trip Report

SWS guided our hike on Mt. Shasta. My son and I had a wonderful time. Started at Bunny Flat (6,950') and headed past Horse Camp and on to 50/50 (9,450') to camp. This took us 3 hours to reach. We spent the next day learning how to use crampons, ropes and the ice axe/self arrests. SWS did a great job on this training. We started with crampons from 50/50 (base camp) and proceeded past the right side of Helen Lake. We roped up at that point and up the Gulch until we reached Red Banks. We took the ropes and crampons off at the base of Misery Hill since the snow was melting at that point. We continuted to the top at 09:00 hrs. We did this from base camp in 6 hours. We stayed on top for an hour because the weather was perfect and wanted to enjoy the views. We worked our way down at 10:00 and started to glissade down the Gulch to Helen Lake.We were back at camp at 12:30 and hiked out to Bunny Flat.

This was a challenging trip with awesome views. It was impressive to see Mt. Shasta's shadow at sunrise. It casts a shadow on the horizon below us. I plan to do this one again!

Note: 4 liters of water going up and only used 3. @ 21 lb pack with water, food and clothes.